Study and modeling of propellant ablation in coaxial ablative pulsed plasma thrusters

Huang, Tiankun; Wu, Zhiwen; Sun, Guorui; Li, Xiangyang; Ling, William Yeong Liang

doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2020.04.010

Cited by 15 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The employment of UV mirrors onboard extraterrestrial telescopes requires an evaluation of their stability under the impact of plasma jets and radiation fluxes to simulate the consequences of emergencies. As an example, CubeSat miniaturized satellites [16] with pulsed plasma thrusters [17] could be used as prospective and inexpensive space observatories, which can serve the needs of universities and small research teams. Such plasma devices ensure high radiation loads (up to q s ≈ 1 MW/cm 2 ) on irradiated surfaces and the generation of broadband VUV radiation [18], which presents these devices as unequal laboratory tools for degradation tests and the material sciences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface Degradation of Thin-Layer Al/MgF2 Mirrors under Exposure to Powerful VUV Radiation

Skriabin,

Telekh,

Pavlov

et al. 2023

Nanomaterials

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Thin-layer Al/MgF2 coatings are currently used for extraterrestrial far-UV astronomy as the primary and secondary mirrors of telescopes (such as “Spektr-UF”). Successful Hubble far-UV measurements have been performed thanks to MgF2 on Al mirror coatings. Damage of such thin-layer coatings has been previously studied under exposure to high-energy electrons/protons fluxes and in low Earth orbit environments. Meanwhile, there is an interest to test the stability of such mirrors under the impact of extreme radiation fluxes from pulsed plasma thrusters as a simulation of emergency onboard situations and other applications. In the present studies, the high current and compressed plasma jets were generated by a laboratory plasma thruster prototype and operated as effective emitters of high brightness (with an integral overall wavelength radiation flux of >1 MW/cm2) and broadband radiation. The spectrum rearrangement and hard-photon cut-off at energy above Ec were implemented by selection of a background gas in the discharge chamber. The discharges in air (Ec ≈ 6 eV), argon (Ec ≈ 15 eV) and neon (Ec ≈ 21 eV) were studied. X-ray diffraction and reflectometry, electron and atomic force microscopy, and IR and visible spectroscopy were used for coating characterization and estimation of degradation degree. In the case of the discharges in air with photon energies of E < 6 eV, only individual nanocracks were found and property changes were negligible. In the case of inert gases, the energy fraction was ≈50% in the VUV range. As found for inert background gases, an emission of such hard photons with energies higher than the MgF2 band gap energy of ≈10.8 eV caused a drastic light-induced ablation and degradation of the irradiated coatings. The upward trend of degradation with an increasing of the maximum photon energies was detected. The obtained data on the surface destruction are useful for the design of methods for coating stability tests and an understanding of the consequences of emergencies onboard space research stations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface Degradation of Thin-Layer Al/MgF2 Mirrors under Exposure to Powerful VUV Radiation

Skriabin,

Telekh,

Pavlov

et al. 2023

Nanomaterials

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“…Polymers (PTFE, POM and others) are considered as propellants for electric propulsion systems (EPS), such as laser thrusters and pulsed plasma thrusters (PPT), where an impulse is generated due to polymer ablation under extreme heat and radiation loads. The main plasma generating processes which determine the propellant flow rate are laser ablation (in laser thrusters) and light erosion (in PPT) [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Nowadays, these EPS active development takes place alongside nano- and pico-satellites [ 4 , 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gas Dynamics Processes above the Polymers Surface under Irradiation with Broadband High-Brightness Radiation in the Vacuum Ultraviolet Spectrum Region

et al. 2022

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Obtaining new data on the gas-dynamic responses from the polymer samples (polytetrafluoroethylene, PTFE) irradiated by powerful VUV radiation from compressed plasma flows is in the focus of the present study. An erosion type magnetoplasma compressor (MPC), a type of plasma focus discharge, was used as a radiation source. The operating voltages of the MPC were between 15 and 25 kV, the maximum measured discharge current was 200 kA, and the radiation energy in the VUV range was ≈1–2 kJ. The VUV fluxes on the sample surface were high and equal to ≈1022–1024 photons cm−2·s−1. Double-exposure laser holographic interferometry and schlieren photography were used to diagnose and visualize the gas-dynamic structures. The spatial distribution of the parameters (temperature, pressure and concentrations of electrons and ions) was defined based on the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium. It has been demonstrated that the maximum temperature ranged from ≈ 10 to 15 kK in the plasma layer. The electron concentration was ≈ (0.7–1.6) × 1018 cm−3 in this region. The used techniques of optical diagnostics and procedures of result processing make it possible to obtain data on the dynamics of polymer ablation, which occurs when their surface is exposed to powerful energy fluxes (thermal, shock-wave, radiation, and other extreme loads).

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“…It is especially suitable for position holding, resistance compensation, formation flight, and other space flight missions on small satellite (Huang et al, 2015;Silnikov et al, 2015). However, the propellant utilization and system efficiency seriously restrict the improvement of APPT performance and affect its application Huang et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Different Energy Supply Methods on Performance of Ablative Pulsed Plasma Thrusters

Zhang

Huang

2021

Front. Energy Res.

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For a certain configuration of ablative pulsed plasma thruster, changing the initial energy is an effective way to optimize the performance of the thruster. Different energy supply methods will not only affect the macro discharge characteristics and system performance of the thruster, but also affect the micro characteristics of the plasma in the discharge channel, the equivalent parameters of the discharge circuit, energy conversion efficiency and so on. In this study, the discharge characteristics, ablation characteristics and plasma motion characteristics of the thruster under different energy supply methods are analyzed experimentally and theoretically. The results show that using the method which includes increasing capacitance to heighten the initial energy of system under the same voltage, using a low-voltage, large-capacitor power supply method under the same initial energy, can effectively increase the impulse generated by Lorentz force and its proportion in the impulse bit. Moreover, the proportion of the ablative propellant effectively ionized and accelerated by Lorentz force increases. Therefore, the thruster has higher specific impulse and efficiency.

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Study and modeling of propellant ablation in coaxial ablative pulsed plasma thrusters

Cited by 15 publications

References 18 publications

Surface Degradation of Thin-Layer Al/MgF2 Mirrors under Exposure to Powerful VUV Radiation

Surface Degradation of Thin-Layer Al/MgF2 Mirrors under Exposure to Powerful VUV Radiation

Gas Dynamics Processes above the Polymers Surface under Irradiation with Broadband High-Brightness Radiation in the Vacuum Ultraviolet Spectrum Region

Influence of Different Energy Supply Methods on Performance of Ablative Pulsed Plasma Thrusters

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